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| "About a couple who stole the moon" - the young Kaczynski Brothers |
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As the elections in Poland come to a close, it becomes clear that the famous twin brothers, Jaroslaw and Lech Kaczynski, will not achieve their long-wished for aim – to get the two main positions in their country, that of Prime Minister and that of President. This circumstance, however, does not diminish their political achievements, and does not prevent them from further active influence on Polish politics, including on the international scene.
A Couple that Stole the Moon
The Kaczynski Brothers were born on the same day, 18 June, 1949, in Warsaw. They became famous rather early, at the age of 14, when they got their first roles as brothers Jacek and Placek in "About a Couple Who Stole the Moon" ("O dwoch takich, co ukradli ksiezyc") a movie by Jan Batory. This film, named among the best movies of the Polish cinematograph of the 20th century, rendered good service to the brothers 20 years later , when they turned to active anticommunist activity. The Polish people sympathized with them. And even in December 1981 when Lech Kaczynski was imprisoned for participation in the Strike Committee in Gdansk Wharf and in the Solidarity movement, people refused to see a "humanity's enemy" in him.
In his turn , the second brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, was also actively involved in opposition activity in the framework of the Committee of Protection of Workers (Komitet Oborony Rabotnikow – KOR) and of the Polish Helsinki Committee (Komitet Helsinski w Polsche).
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Lech Kaczynski
(photo from the personal website) |
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At the end of the 1980s, when the communist regime in Poland gave way to Solidarity, Lech Kaczynski was the right hand of the leader of the movement, who later became the first President of Poland, Lech Walesa. In that period Kaczynski held a number of high-ranking positions – from a member of the Polish Parliament (Sejm) and the Deputy Chairman of the Solidarity Trade Union, to the leader of the Center Agreement Party (Porozumienie Centrum) and Security Minister in the Presidential Chancellery. From February 1992 to May 1995, he held the position of the President of the Supreme Chamber of Control (Naczelna Izba Kontroli – NIK) and from June 2000 to July 2001 he was the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General in the Jerzy Buzek government.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski held the position of the Tugodnik Solidarnosc publishing editor in 1989-1990, and also, together with his brother, was a member of the Professional Solidarity Union. In 1990, again with Lech, he was the creator of the party Porozumienie Centrum, and later on - its' chairman (until 1998). In parallel, in 1991-1993 and in 1997-2001, he was a member of Sejm.
In 2001, just before the Sejm's elections, the Kaczynski brothers announced the creation of their own rightist party – Law and Justice (Prawo I Sprawiedliwosc – PiS).
The party itself did well in the elections, when it got 44 out of 460 seats in the Parliament (about 10%). However, in general, the rightist block sustained a defeat. In 2002, Lech Kaczynski, who lost his ministerial position, won election as Warsaw's mayor. He is still holding this office at present. Jaroslaw Kachisky, a Doctor of Law, is the leader of PiS and the head of its Parliament group since 2003.
In March, 2005, having right wing views on the political situation (the end of the leftist bloc and the growth of popularity of the rightists), Lech Kaczynski announced his decision to run as a candidate for the presidential post. At present it is clear that his chances of winning are not high – the latest public opinion polls show that he has only 30% of votes, while his main opponent, the candidate from "Platforma Obywatelska" Donald Tusk, has 44%. In the opinion of local commentators, Lech Kaczynski has already gotten used to the idea of the future fiasco, his public speeches are not bright, and they are inconsistent and full of mistakes. At the same time, Jaroslaw Kaczynski is struggling for the position of Prime Minister in the future center-right government. At present, his chances are more promising than those of his brother.
According to a public opinion poll, the Law and Justice Party has 27% of votes, while the leader of the pre-election race, "Civic Platform" (PO), expects to get 33% of votes. And though at present the leadership of PO seems to be beyond any debate, in case of the sociologists' mistake (as happened in Germany's recent elections), it might occur that the winner in the struggle for election will be Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
Neo-Conservatives' Triumph
Well, even if Jaroslaw Kaczynski will really become the further Prime Minister of Poland, he can't bring visible changes to the foreign political doctrine, proposed by the leader of PO Jan Rokita. As it sounded from his appearances through the last years, his views on the main principles of Polish foreign politics are practically identical to Rokita's, which allow us to suppose the coordination of positions between the leaders of the right encampment.
Like Rokita, the Kaczynski brothers support preserving and developing the Atlantic, pro-American and pro-NATO tendencies in the Polish foreign political future . Still, they are against the European Constitution project as it was proposed to EU countries for ratification. Polish patriotism does not let the brothers agree to the creation of a sort of " sole European community", and, that's why they insist on a federal system type union providing many rights to national governments – including the right of conducting independent foreign policy. In this context, the leaders of PiS pay great attention to the development of cooperation with the Visegrad Group (V-4), in which they see the important option not only for regional cooperation, but also for raising the authority of Warsaw in its dialog with the EU management. By the way, for the same reason Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski support the idea of Ukraine and Georgia joining the EU. After coming into power they will attain official recognition of forum V-4 by the EU management.
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| Jaroslaw Kaczynski (photo: AG) |
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One more important point of foreign politics of Kaczynski brothers is the assertion of the "hard" relations between Warsaw and Berlin. The leaders of PiS do not take into consideration the necessity of developing relations with Germany as one of the leading countries on the European continent and one of the most influential among the members of the EU. However, they strictly protest the revanchist moods of German management. As an example of such moods, they mention the position of Angela Merkel as she stated it during her last visit to Warsaw. At that time the leader of the German opposition (the present candidate for the post of chancellor ) tried to persuade Polish management and opposition of the harmlessness of the idea of creating "Center against Expulsion" (Zentrum gegen Vertreibungen). The answer of the Polish opposition, including PiS, became the condemnation of this attempt to pretend that Germany's population was the victim of WWII. The second pretension of the Kaczynski brothers toward Berlin is the development of strategic relations with Moscow, disregarding the countries of Eastern Europe. According to their point of view, building a gas pipeline at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, which was agreed upon between president Putin and Chancellor Schroeder, disregards the interests of Poland. People from Lech Kaczynski’s faction say that he does not believe Angela Merkels' words about changing the orientation of the foreign policy of Germany and, that in his opinion, in the event she becomes Chancellor, Germany's policy regarding Moscow will remain the same.
Summing up, it is important to mention once again the similarity in the main foreign policy ideas of PiS leaders and their opponents during the pre-election struggle as the PO. Taking into consideration that both parties are the most amenable partners for a future coalition, it can be stated today that a community of opinions and permanency will characterize the foreign policy of the future Polish government.
Related items:
Jan Rokita: The Triumph of the Politician - Intellectual (22.09.05)
Warsaw Consolidates the Countries of Eastern and Central Europe (21.09.05)
On the Threshold of a Right-Centrist Revolution (03.09.05)
The Great Game for Poland (15.05.05)
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